God's Love for the Women of the Middle East

Article by JoAnn Doyle 

     I recently came back from an amazing mission trip in Jordan. The focus was one of women working with women, the first for us in the Middle East.  I brought a team of 12 women with me.  We journeyed to Jordan and partnered with Arab Women Today during their conference in which 120 women from 22 different countries were in attendance.  We were asked to lead the morning devotional each day, along with heading up three workshops on practical topics. We saw God move in powerful ways during these times.   

     We trained each of them with the EvangeCube, and the women committed to smuggle them back into their countries along with The Incredible Journey Bible Survey. We were amazed at the faith of these saints of God, especially the ones from hard-line Islamic nations like Saudi Arabia. We were also asked to minister to the women through the power of touch.  Women living in the death grip of Islam don't experience non-abusive touch like women in America do (and take for granted).  We massaged shoulders, necks and hands while getting to know these precious sisters in Christ.  We polished nails while we connected and bonded with our sweet sisters and listened to how they came to Christ.  This opened incredible times of intense prayer. Our primary motivation was to get to know our sisters and then to pray with each one as we finished ministering to them.   

     One woman cried as her nails were polished saying she had never worn nail polish in her life.  Other women giggled as they looked at how pretty they looked afterwards. Many tears were shed, both from the women from the Middle East and from our American team as deep needs and hurts were shared and prayed for. God allowed us to bond with these dear women in a very close way because of the combination of physical touch, the impact of sharing deep needs of the heart and the spiritual depth of prayer. One woman from Iraq told the sad story of her husband and 3 children being killed by an American soldier. The woman on our team that was ministering to her at the time told the Iraqi woman that her son had been an American soldier in Iraq! God had set this divine appointment as the two embraced and prayed together. Feelings of bitterness and anger evaporated because of the healing blood of Jesus Christ. What a work of God to connect those two women together! Our team was privileged to spend hours in prayer. How awesome this was for us since these women lead ministries in their respective countries, often while experiencing severe persecution from Islamic groups.  

     There is such a need for women's ministry in the Middle East. Our Middle East Women's Team has now been invited to Iraq, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and India. We believe God is moving powerfully among the women of the Middle East! "We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us."

2 Cor. 4:7